Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Pondering a certain lack of courage...

This bitch has been thinking about political courage. Maybe it is because Congress decided to dust off the Constitution this week and slap it down on the table to challenge the recent FBI raid on Representative Jefferson’s office. Or maybe it is because so many current political issues really boil down to tests of courage and leadership. Regardless, courage is on my mind.

Most of the time leadership is a pain in the ass. Leaders are often critiqued and rarely praised. Worry, anxiety and caution are their constant companions…don’t let all that talk of decisive action fool you. It is courage that takes the hand of a leader to guide her past worry, anxiety and caution into the land of action.

A bitch has always thought that one of the hardest things a leader must do is tell someone that something they are fired up about isn’t worthy of debate. That has just got to be a complete beating, but it is also where courage kicks in. Leaders must possess the courage to look someone in the eye and piss in their Corn Flakes and move the masses forward to handle the shit that needs handling.

This bitch wishes there were more leaders in elected office today. A bitch wishes that more people would stand up, grab the microphone and call bullshit on the rest of them.

When this bitch read that our elected officials in the Senate…despite all of the shit they have to handle in America today…took the time to draft and prepare to vote on a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as requested by the vocal and well funded minority they apparently feel that they answer to…well, pissed me off.

It made me want to print off thousands of copies of that bullshit and pass it out on the streets…to the homeless who face the deadly heat of summer…to the mentally ill who face another day without shelter and food…to the mother who is about to give birth in a nation that cares more about the definition of marriage than the mortality rate of newborn infants…to the chil’ren who lost parents in war…to the immigrants who face exploitation…to the parents who watch their families go hungry…to my fellow Americans who pay the salaries of the very same hypocritical shits who just wasted the people’s time and money to satisfy the raving demands of the morally bankrupt pseudo-religious right.

What the fuck do we, the people, do with this Amendment? Huh? Shall a bitch hand a copy of it to my autistic brother, whose medical care is being slashed to the bone while those in elected office debate the motherfucking definition of marriage?

Should a bitch run off a copy to hand over to my mentee...who still saves half of every meal this bitch buys her to take home for later…who just wants one blessed day without struggle and hustle and drama and worry…just one day without violence, gun shots, desperation and destruction.

Who the fuck gets a copy of this piece of shit Amendment and says thank you…thanks for doing this…thanks for taking the time to write this particular piece of hate filled shit?

Tell me, because this bitch really needs to understand.

Tell me how a bitch prepares to look the desperate, denied, hungry and oppressed in the eye and say here…this is what the Senate has accomplished…this is what your government did on your behalf when they should have been minding the store. This is what the Senate did instead of demonstrating courage and refusing to vandalizing the very document they swore to honor and protect.

We, the people, are worthy of a better Senate than this one. We are worthy of a Senate willing to defend our democracy against the agents of religious extremism and hate filled fundamentalism.

But don’t take my word for it…just read that nifty Constitution the Senate is preparing to take a rancid panderific dump on.

18 comments:

Sadly, I think many, many, many U.S. citizens would rather have this amendment than comprehensive national healthcare, better public schools, or a stable economy. The 2004 election seemed to suggest that over half of those who voted were willing to vote against their own best interests. Instead, their hatred of people like me was more important than their own economic stability.

I would tend to agree with your statement that these 'issues' (gay marriage, etc) require significantly less courage to deal with than say, national healthcare. I also think these easy issues allow governments to look productive. You can pass legislation that is decided by a 'yes' or 'no' majority more quickly than you can develop a courageous, long-term plan for national healthcare.

A question then it's back to work. . .Do you think that having discussions about gay marriage and abortion, etc. are (or could be) the primary steps in addressing a national approach to health care?

I would tend to agree with your statement that these 'issues' (gay marriage, etc) require significantly less courage to deal with than say, national healthcare. I also think these easy issues allow governments to look productive. You can pass legislation that is decided by a 'yes' or 'no' majority more quickly than you can develop a courageous, long-term plan for national healthcare.

A question then it's back to work. . .Do you think that having discussions about gay marriage and abortion, etc. are (or could be) the primary steps in addressing a national approach to health care?

This is the best blog you have written and you have written many good one. This entry cuts cuts to the heart of the matter. What are we supposed to do with this hate they want us to embrace? i won't embrace it. fuck 'em!

Here in Colorado, home of the wingy-est of the wingnuts, Focus on de Fambly, SpongeDob and company actually horked up the cash for a full-page ad in one of the local fishwraps exhorting their hillbilly goat-fing pals to call up Salazar and harrass him. Luckily I was in the bathroom when I saw this ad and was able to use it to best advantage. I try to always recycle. Felt good decorating it AND flushing it down. Now that's freedom of expression!

People of religion and not of faith/spirituality seem to need both boundaries between "us" and "them", and the feeling of superiority to "them". The religious right average voter is psychologically isolated from a large community, heavily invested in popular culture and overconsumption, and notices the lack of meaning inherent in a lot of commercialized individualistic life. Unfortunately, they are also spiritually, culturally, and theologically underequipped, and all too willing to accept the intellectual and spiritual pap and flattery of the megachurches. They want to be told certainties, instead of stretching their faith and imagination and human sympathy.

Take a look at http://www.alternet.org/story/36640/and at a recent Kos diary entitled "Six Flags over Jesus" (you might be able to get there from www.streetprophets.com).

Wow. You always seem to take a thought that's kind of stuck way back in my brain, and make it SO CLEAR and well fleshed out...so I'm thinking, "Why are we so focused on this shit when there are REAL issues that need to be handled", and you write a masterpiece. Thanks for your skill and clarity.

Thank ya, girlfren'-- not like the entire Gulf Coast has lain in ruins for a year or a bitch-load of po'boys and girls got they asses SHOT teying to pay for college in Iraq or tens of thousands of civilians got killed or anything. But we stayin' married no matter what Bush say.

I want to know why so many Black people are worried about gay marriage? Most Black people don't get married. As for homophobia in the Black community, we should "Act like we know". Almost every Black family has a relative or two that's gay, so we shouldn't act like its foreign to us. If two men or women get married, it has the same effect on me as a man and woman getting married; none.